"There was the adrenaline rush and the shock of just the situation," said Pinney.

Once safe and out of harm's way, it sunk in.

"Realizing what that meant, that I can't go home, it's...." said Pinney, who didn't finish the sentence.

She didn't need to.

Losing the place she lived and nearly everything inside was devastating. It's meant couch surfing and an unsteady job situation, along with looking for a new home.

But instead of sulking, she's been called to action. In the immediate aftermath of the more than 900-acre fire, dozens of boxes full of clothes were sent to Big Sur to help out the victims.

The clothing was picked over but the boxes kept coming. There was enough to fill a whole room.

That's when something clicked in Pinney's head.

"Obviously there's far too many clothes here than all those folks can use," Pinney said. "Might as well get some money for it and put it back into the rebuild effort."

This weekend, she organized the transformation of a Sand City warehouse into a clothing outlet. Hundreds of people came by. More than $4,000 was raised to help rebuild the neighborhood.

"It affects our whole community and anything we can do to help keep our community together I think is the best way to go," said shopper Leslie Spang.

For Pinney, helping has also lead to healing.

"Doing something like this is really helpful. It gives me something to do," she said.

As Sunday came to a close, Pinney was so pleased with the success that she decided to extend the sale another day. There will be another opportunity to contribute to the fundraiser Monday from 10 a.m to 2 p.m.